BUYER’S GUIDE TO PURCHASING EVENT MOBILE APP

BUYER’S GUIDE TO PURCHASING EVENT MOBILE APP INTRODUCTION Event mobile apps are one of the most versatile and fastest growing areas of the events and meetings industry. As Smartphone technology continues to improve further and event organizers relentlessly looking for ways to boost their event ROI and create more engaging events, mobile apps have become a buzz word in the industry. Event mobile app is a useful tool that enhances event management or networking between attendees at the event.

According to statistics, 86% of event attendees rate an event app as a top three aspect that made their time at an event more enjoyable. And this fact has not gone unnoticed by event planners around the world, with 88% of event professionals believing that using an event app had a positive impact on attendee satisfaction, a key metric. These statistical findings indicate that not only are event planners embracing event mobile apps, but even attendees expect to engage with a mobile app even before they attend the event. Here are some of the other reasons why event organizers around the world should use the mobile app: Event mobile app provides continuous engagement Having a mobile app for your event is a fantastic way to connect with your registrants before, during and even after the event. It provides an opportunity to stay connected and build an ever-lasting relationship. In fact, 62% of planners say that the number one benefit of switching to a mobile app is the ability to instantly message attendees.

Boost your brand Mobile apps are a great way to boost your brand. It gives your organization to be in front of the target audience at every interaction they have with the app.

Mobile branding offers an opportunity to help your customers understand your company’s core value and create an ever lasting impression. With a perfect user experience, you can build credibility and trust with your users in no time!

Collect feedback and vital data Valuable data such as your attendees’ behaviour and feedback can be collected with the help of an event mobile app. It is a fast, efficient and an

effective way to garner and consolidate feedback. You can use all this vital information to optimize your future events as well as understand your customers’ behaviours and areas of improvement.

Save costs With event planners around the world looking for ways to boost ROI and save costs, a mobile app can be a great resource. 91% of event planners say that adopting a mobile event app has provided a positive ROI. You can very easily save money, time or other valuable sources by using mobile apps to share maps, event agendas, speakers’ profiles and directories. An event mobile app provides timely and clear information to your guests and saves tons of paper, with 82% of event professionals claiming to have reduced or removed paper printing by switching to a mobile app.

It is clear that the benefits of using an event mobile app are enormous. But the important question still remains: how do you know which one to buy or what are the questions you need to ask before you approach any mobile app vendor. Read this eBook to see which mobile apps to buy, how to effectively use mobile apps at an event, important questions to ask vendors before you buy, and a lot more.

SELECTING THE RIGHT EVENT APP When you’re assessing the best mobile app for your event, it is very easy to get lost in the sea of vendors that claim to offer the best app. The landscape of vendors and features they offer seem to be in a perpetual state of flux. It’s an exciting time for event professionals since all this means unprecedented innovation and very less cost. Unfortunately, it also means that it is very easy to lose sight of your priorities when choosing an app that best suits your event.

While we all know that there is no one-size-fits-all type of app, you need to consider a few things before making a decision. Read the following section to see what you need to consider while choosing the best event app.

Every event app comes with a basic set of fixed, non-negotiable features. But is that enough to fit the bill is the first thing you need to see. You may want an app that will guide your attendees around the event, customize their agenda, get critical updates from organizers, have networking capabilities and provide feedback. Therefore, before you decide to select any vendor, you need to

narrow down the features you need to execute a rock-solid event. But how do you narrow the choices? If you are a seasoned event professional, then this will not be a rocket science for you. However, amateurs generally have to put a lot of time and energy into thinking what features to look out for. Whatever you decide, you should always ask the following questions to your event app company and get a satisfactory response before you proceed further: ● How easy is it to build an app? ● Is it a native app? In other words, will the app work for my attendees both online and offline? ● Is it user friendly - will attendees know how to use it and easily navigate my event? ● Can I make last-minute or real-time changes and publish them immediately? ● Is there a customer support team that is present when you need them the most?

Once you have these basic questions answered, you may want to look at few other aspects of an event mobile app. You may or may not want to consider them based on the complexity and type of your event.

Several ways to secure your app Depending upon the type of event and the nature of your event information, you may require your app to secure and be under some lock and key.

Fortunately, there are various enterprise security these days, including white listing, SSO, and MDM. Make sure the event app provider has various options to match your security needs.

Try the technology before you buy Like anything you purchase, your event app provider should allow you to test the technology of the app before you finalize it. Before you commit to investing in the app builder, test the technology and ensure it is comfortable. If the provider doesn’t allow that or does not even give you a demo of the product, then that raises eyebrows about the ease of using the app.

Multi-level users and collaboration One way to quickly create and launch an event app is to delegate work amongst your team members so that everything is not dependent on you.

There are several app providers that will allow you to collaborate and provide several user logins. If your app has multiple editors features then that’ll allow

you to work quickly and efficiently. Note: features such as there are usually provided at an additional cost.

Networking and social interactions One of the many reasons why people attend an event is networking and the social interactions they have. See if your event app makes it easy for your registrants to forge new connections and get the highest possible ROI from your event. If your app has social sharing and links to existing social media accounts, then your registrants will frequently use your app.

Customized and personalized content for attendees Some event app providers have the feature to customize and personalise content for each attendee attending your event. This unique experience generally has significantly higher engagement rate at events.

Transparent Pricing In the sea of app providers, it is very difficult to say which one will suit your needs the best. When comparing providers, make sure they are transparent and upfront about their pricing model. Rather than spending time on demos of overpriced apps, look for providers who are clear and honest about their pricing model.

Real-time editing feature on mobile devices Let’s face it, event planning is one of the most stressful jobs. Unforeseen things always happen at the very last minute. With things changing at a moment’s notice, make sure your app provider has the ability to edit things in real-time on your mobile or portable devices.

Track changes made to the app content As trivial as it may sound, tracking of changes to the content can be important if multiple people are working on the app. As your event app is created by different, there is a risk that someone might make a critical mistake that can make you look stupid in front of your audience. Revision history is a great way to keep track of things and keep everyone on schedule.

Now that you know what to ask the app providers, read the next chapter to read the list of top 5 mobile app providers that you can consider.

TOP MOBILE APP PROVIDERS

Depending on the type of events you host, here is our list of top 5 event app providers that you can consider for your next event.

EventBH EventBH offers a suite of apps that allow event managers to handle the entire event lifecycle – from registration, onsite engagement to reporting and analysis. It allows attendees to meet the right audience at the right time with solutions such as EventBH and Find my Leads.

Some of the key features of EventBH app include: ● EventBH allows attendees to send out connection requests at the event and contact each other via text, phone or e-mail. ● Have offline accessible event schedules via our Event App ● EventBH lets your attendees review exhibitor profiles before the event and decide who they’d like to meet.

Attendify A premium event management app, Attendify offers unique features like private social networking, seamless content management, digital event guide, in-app sponsor platform and browsing and posting on social media timeline.

Some of the other key features include: ● Create a customized social network only for your event using Private Social Networking feature ● Display event content on any screen in real-time ● Run as many events as you want from a single dashboard with a simple content management system.

Pathable Pathable is an all-in-one event app that has several features including community and networking, private meeting scheduler, conference agenda manager, mobile apps for tradeshows, polls and surveys mobile conference apps and metrics and ROI. Some of the other key features include: ● Pathable apps provide actionable, real-time behavioral metrics ● It allows attendees to create their own schedules with the help of a smart, simple and easy-to-use tool

● There are features like post-event surveys and live polls to infer attendee feedback CrowdCompass CrowdCompass by Cvent provides a unique experience to your attendees with its smart content features such as personalized bookmarks, individual notifications and quick photo sharing. Features like interactive polling and powerful push messages help increase engagement to ensure year-round ROI. Some of the other key features include: ● CrowdCompass allows your attendees to access all your events from a single app. ● CrowdCompass EventCenter provides several theme and icon options to create a branded experience ● It helps you send reminders, updates and survey links to attendees as push notifications ● Project your event’s social feed onto a live wall called the SocialWall Whova An app built with Whova allows your attendees to plan their event experience around their choices so that they can focus on things that matter the most to them. With features like mobile agenda and attendee bios (with social media links), it makes networking a breeze.

Some of the key features of Whova event app include: ● Attendees can customize their event experience with a focus on meeting contacts ● The app has a built-in system that offers a complete overview of key attendees’ social profiles ● Registrants can plan to meet and begin networking even before the event starts.

Once you’ve got your preferences set, you now need to know how to effectively use the app before you finally take the leap of faith and purchase one. After all, according to the Event App Bible published by Event Manager Blog, only 33 percent of event professionals report that at least half their attendees are using their event app. But although 83 percent of attendees use social media for events, 59 percent of respondents have been slow to adopt

event apps, according to the Event App Bible. So what can you do to maximise your event app adoption? Read the next chapter to see some of the ways to use the event mobile app before, during and after the event.

EFFECTIVELY USING AN EVENT APP FOR MAXIMUM ADOPTION Your event app won’t be a success until your attendees download and engage with it. Here are ways to effectively use an app for maximum adoption: Pre-promote: Promote your app on your web schedule page and related pages.

Create a mobile app web page: Create a dedicated mobile app web page that highlights features and benefits.

Launch app with a dedicated email message: Send an email to your prospects and registrants highlighting the app. Do not club the app in any other email of yours. Make sure to use a great subject line for higher open rate and more visibility.

Highlight benefits and features: You’ve worked hard on the app, make sure you highlight all its great benefits and features.

Personalize it: Make sure you tell your attendees that the app will be personalized exclusively for them based on pre-collected information, such as an itinerary built during the online registration process.

Use social media extensively: Make your app’s presence viral on social media by highlighting that the availability of the app and its numerous features.

Cover it onsite: The best way to increase adoption is by mentioning the download instructions on signage at the event or near the registration area.

Ask speakers to promote the app: Encourage speakers to promote the app by using features like polling and surveys.

Depend less on printed programs: If you need to share content of your event then consider uploading it to the app and limiting printing it to save money and paper.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR EVENT APPS? App adoption amongst events and attendees is increasing, and so too is the technology, resultant capabilities and available functionality. Events that have a dedicated mobile app generate 42% more social media impressions, with message reply rates among app connected attendees more than 80%. And this trend is ticking upwards only. 2019 is expected to be an exciting year for mobile event technology.

While adoption may still be a challenge, we surely see a renewed interest in getting apps and potential growth of 26% over the coming years. As an organization, it is the right time to have an event app that will let you have your very own branded app. With that said, attendees will expect event apps that offer more than the usual features such as registration integration and attendee matchmaking.

Here are just some of the options available in the near future: Native apps are here to stay Native apps will offer more versatile options compared to web-based apps.

Native apps are built especially for each operating system and will offer better user experience. Other popular features that will gain importance are IBeacon integration (which sends push notifications depending upon on attendee location), live streaming and gamification (interactive games with rewards).

However, with more features, there is always a premium attached. So make sure you consider the return on investment before you finalize anything.

The growth of the intelligent event app As event technology embarks a new journey with the growth of intelligent event app, there will soon an intelligent bot that will be the preferred method of interacting with the app. According to Event App Bible, 24% of event apps offer some level of artificial intelligence that enhances the delivery of various services/features. With the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning these intelligent bots will one day become your attendees’ personalized digital concierge that will proactively offer recommendations. It will give your

attendees all the details they need to know about your event even before they know they want it.

Among the emerging features, Chatbots are gaining speed with 14% of apps offering them, 9% offer voice control of the app while only 6% support a Sirilike response to spoken queries.

Seamless integration of external services Expect the seamless integration of external services in the app chat bot experience. For instance, when your attendees leave a session, the bot might ask if they want to order a Lyft or Uber to take them to your next session which might be six blocks away.

Wearable technology The potential for the growth and sophistication of wearable technology such as beacon-in-a-badge is enormous. Amid a decline in cost and continuous innovation of this technology, expect more event planners to provide these technologies to their attendees. Wearable technology will give the most accurate data of your attendees’ digital footprint: information such as where they spend most of their time, which session they liked, etc. Integration of such technology with your event app will complete the feedback loop.

The rise of Augmented Reality With Apple’s introduction of ARkit, expect a lot of experimentation with Augmented Reality in the next few years. While Augmented Reality might have the strongest use cases with exhibitor and sponsors, it will also be exciting to see how event planners use this technology creatively at their events.

CONCLUSION Mobile event apps are more than just a replacement of paper-based programs or digital registration. It opens a huge sea of possibilities that event planners should tap into. The question is not about buying it or not buying, it is all about what features you prefer and want at your event. It is about to knowing the extent you want your event app to work for you, your attendees, sponsors and your event. After reading this guide, you can now answer these question and take the leap of faith you were always afraid to take!